Becoming the Warrior
by dragonn00bslayer
Summary: Fern and her friends escaped from their twoleg nests and are on a short journey to become warriors of the Clans.
1. Prologue

Cool silver light reflected off the water. It's cold beauty taking the breath away from a young brown tabby. The cat bent down at the water's edge, four other cats doing the same. Without hesitation they lapped a few drops of the moonlit water and lay still.

The tabby opened her eyes and gazed around the pool. Cats lined the pool, but more than the five that lay there before. The cats' fur was edged in silver frost, and moonlight danced at their paws. The tabby smiled at the reassuring cats before her and dipped her head respectfully.

"Raise your head, dear Leafpool," a blue-gray she-cat mewed.

The tabby looked up expectantly waiting for what the cat would tell her.

The cats surrounding the blue cat began speaking in unison, their voices molded into one. Leafpool's eyes widened. A prophecy?

'_Trouble lies within the markings, set to gain revenge. Four shall come of no forest blood, but save us they may._'

A fiery glow had entered all the StarClan warriors' eyes as they spoke, and once they had finished they looked at Leafpool. The blue-gray cat stepped forward once more and touched noses with the medicine cat.

"What does it mean?" Though she knew StarClan did not give straight answers, she asked anyway. But the blue-gray cat took a pace back.

"Be well prepared," she murmured and an icy grip told hold of Leafpool's limbs. She gasped and looked around, only to see heavy gray clouds move lazily across the moon. The clouds were flecked with darker bits, almost familiar. Then the moment was gone and the young tabby blinked her eyes open to see the clear starry night above her.

'_Four shall come of no forest blood..._'


	2. The Beginning

_Fern woke reluctantly._ The light of dawn forced it's way over the tops of the twoleg nests. The light brown tabby she-cat sighed. Another day of scavenging like foxes. She shrugged and looked around the shaded space behind her. Her friends were curled up with one another, just out of reach from the light. Fern glared at them. They needed food if they were to continue travelling. Fern and her friends were kittypets that es-caped from their cruel twoleg nests. They had been travelling for many moons, speaking to loners and rogues, asking if there were large groups of cat families.

Fern sighed. They heard great stories of cats in groups called Clans that lived and hunted together. Battling for food, survival and territory. According to some, Fern would have been called Fernpaw, for she was the age of an apprentice.

Blinking away her daydream, the tabby turned away from the dawn light and prodded a pale gray tabby tom.

Bending down, she hissed, "Dusk, get up!" The tom blinked his amber eyes at her and yawned. Just as reluctantly as she had, Dusk got up and licked his lips.

"Better wake up Willow and Night," remarked the tom, gesturing with his tail to the solid gray she-cat curled up beside the black tom. The black cat suddenly blinked open his eyes and extended his paws, each of which were white.

"No need for me, Dusk," murmured Night sleepily. He gently kicked Willow with his hind paw.

The she-cat made an annoyed muffled groaning sound. Sighing as her dreams left her, the gray she-cat stood and looked at her companions with piercing blue eyes the colour of the sky.

"Well, I suppose we must get some breakfast," she muttered irritably. Yawning still, she brushed past Fern and Dusk, raising her head to taste the air.

Fern exchanged an amused look with Dusk before following her out. Opening her jaws, Fern let the scents of the twolegplace rush into her scent glands on the roof of her mouth. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat as the ranic smell of the Thunderpaths flowed into her mouth.

"Yuck!" she spat. "Twolegs! We've been wandering through here for a _moon_ and I still haven't gotten used to this stench!"

Dusk looked at her sympathetically. "We'll get to those so-called Clans soon enough, Fern." Shrugging, he added, "We've got to be patient."

Willow let out a low hiss as the roar of a twoleg monster drew close. "Everyone down!" the gray she-cat growled and slipped under a neatly trimmed shrub.

Fern followed her. Settling herself down beside Willow, she licked a paw and began washing her head. The other cat glared out from the bush, eyes narrowed as the monster rushed past.

"We're good."

Fern slid out after Willow and shook scraps of leaf mold from her pelt.

"We should get a move on," Dusk bounded over to them with Night at his heels. "I'm sure we're almost out."

Fern hoped he was right. The everlasting stench of the twolegs and their monsters never became stale. Fresh scents covered all their black hard paths and even the grass was oily and disgusting. She couldn't wait until she felt the soft touch of wild grass beneath her paws and the smell of plump mice scuffling under the brambles. Still relishing the thought, she didn't notice Dusk meowing to her.

"Fern? Fern!" the tom growled under his breath as she shook her head from the dream. "Are you going to stand there all day waiting for a twoleg to come for you? I think not! Let's _go_."

Fern rolled her eyes at Willow but followed the two toms as they stalked up to the side of the Thunderpath. On the opposite side a twoleg clasped firmly onto a lead attached to a yipping dog. It strained against the twoleg, leaping onto it's hindpaws to scrabble hopelessly at the air. Fern turned to her companions. Dusk was glaring at the dog, curling his lip into a snarl. Night was beside him, lashing his tail about like the dog would go loose any moment. Willow, like Fern, found no threat in the whining pitiful dog, so they pricked their ears to listen for monsters before setting off across the Thunderpath.

The she-cats' pawsteps pattered quietly along the hard black surface. The dog's bark grew fainter as the twoleg rounded a corner and disapeared beyond the large neat hedgerows. Fern gratefully reached the other side as the roar of a monster sounded in the distance. She looked to the side where the dog went and saw the monster halt briefly at a big red thing.

"Hurry," she hissed at the toms while Willow leaped up onto the side path and stood beside her.

The monster began to turn, the twoleg inside it's belly looking the other way, not noticing the cats crossing. Dusk and Night hesitated, but the roar of more monsters told them they'd better get moving. The toms darted across.

At that moment the monster turned and Fern yowled out at them urgently. The monster came closer, picking up speed as the twoleg chattered on a silver thing. Night and Dusk bounded across the black, but the monster was almost on top of them. Night pelted forward as he noticed the monster nearer with Dusk at his paws. The two managed to cross safely, the monster roaring past harmlessly.

Willow sighed in relief, but her eyes burned in fury. "What do you think you were doing? You should have followed us!"

Dusk growled. "I wasn't our fault twolegs are so stupid!"

Fern rolled her eyes as the two continued bickering. Without paying attention to them she turned toward the sunrise and padded off. Night trotted after her, leaving the two other cats to meow at each other. The black tom caught up to her and flicked her shoulder with his tail tip.

"I know, it's annoying when they do this," he meowed. "But thats how they are."

Fern shrugged and kept moving. A protestant yowl sounded from behind them, and she paused to let the gray she-cat and gray tabby to catch up.

"About time," she growled and set her pace to a brisk trot.

Her friends followed suit, and soon their were well on their way out of the Twolegplace. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the travelling cats when a sharp bark made Dusk leap beside Fern. The tom yowled in alarm as the dog scrambled under a broken piece in the fence.

"Run!"

Fern scrabbled at the rough twoleg rock and raced after Willow and Night. The two cats infront of her took a risk, pelting straight past the dog's twoleg nest. Fern forced herself to run after them. The dog was confused at the cats running past him, then scrunched his face in a growl and lunged.

Willow yowled as the dog snapped its jaws a mouse-length from her tail and ran faster. It's rank breath steamed on her tail tip and she sped forward, her muscles burning. Suddenly a high-pitched yowl reached Fern's ears as she hared beside Willow. Not risking a glance she ran even faster. The two she-cats swerved in a patch of mud and leaped into a thick bush. Fern pushed forward until she could see Night's outline.

"Where's Dusk?" she panted.

Night looked past her with wide eyes. Ears flattening at what she would see, Fern turned her head over her shoulder. Dusk was darting around the dog as it snapped at his tail. His eyes were stretched wide with terror. Fern's ears flicked forward, and with a determined face, she burst from the bush. Ignoring the low meows of protest from Willow and Night, she sprang to Dusk's aid.

The tabby she-cat bounded to the dog in a heartbeat and leaped onto his haunches. The dog barely seemed to notice Fern sink her claws in. She pulled herself up and jumped onto it's head, clamping her jaws on it's ear firmly. This time the dog noticed and let out a howl.

"Run!" Fern managed to mumble through the ear.

Dusk hesitated at the sight of Fern on the creature's head, but the dog saw it's chance and thunder to the tom. Fern's eyes stretched wide as she was sure the dog would pummel Dusk into the ground. Reaching her claw forward, she swiped the creature's eye, sending it veering off to the side.

Dusk then bounded away, glancing behind him as Fern hung on. Seeing the dog about to crash into a twoleg fence, she sprang and neatly landed on her paws. Immediately she bolted to Dusk's side and they slipped into the bush beside the other cats.

Dusk turned and began licking Fern's ears repeatedly. In between licks he cried, "Why'd you do that? You could've been killed, for StarClan's sake!" In the tales they heard of the Clan cats, the four had learned of StarClan, the warrior ancestors of the Clans. They had gotten used to using the name.

Fern rolled her eyes to Willow and Night who twitched their whiskers in amusement. Eventually Dusk stopped and pressed his side up against hers.

"Well, I suppose the dog is gone for now," Fern muttered. "Why don't we get going?"

Willow and Night murmured their agreement while Dusk just shrugged and eyed Fern for injuries. Fern glanced at him and brushed her muzzle against his before pushing her way out of the bush.


	3. A Question

Fern blinked open her eyes and gazed around. Dusk was curled up beside her, and Willow was on her other side. Night sat, nodding off, at an opening in the bracken patch they took shelter in for the night. Dawn light was creeping into the sky as birdsong began twittering in the trees above. The tabby she-cat stood quietly, as not to disturb her friends, and slipped out of the bracken into the crisp morning air.

She stretched and turned to pad into the trees to hunt. Parting her jaws, she drank in the air and spotted a mouse before she even scented it. Dropping into a crouch she taught herself, she pulled forward effortlessly. Leaping, she pinned the mouse down and finished it with a bite to the neck. Picking it up, Fern padded back to the bracken and dropped it beside Night. Her stomache grumbled at the scent of the mouse, and Fern had to admit the fish she caught in a twoleg pond seemed a very long time ago.

"Thanks," Night muttered absently when he smelled the fresh-kill.

Fern flicked her tail at him in acknowledgement and slipped back into the bushes for more food. Soon enough she had caught a plump rabbit and a vole, and was stepping up behind a sparrow when the bushes rustled behind her. Twitching her tail tip irritably she turned with her ears pricked. She relaxed as she recognized the gray pelt pushing itself through the plants. The bird was long gone, but Fern shrugged off the disappointment and trotted up to meet Dusk.

His tail was drooping but when he noticed Fern it rose. Purring, he touched noses with her and brushed his muzzle against her flank. Fern tilted her head at the confusion in his eyes and sat down beside him.

"What's wrong?" she meowed quietly.

Dusk looked up and shrugged. "It's just that -" he hesitated for a moment before looking her in the eyes. "When we get there, and the Clan accepts us, what happens if there's another tom?"

Fern blinked. She understood what he was getting at. He loved her and didn't want to lose her to another tom. "You never know, Dusk," she said. "You could find a she-cat that's meant for you. We don't have to be together."

Dusk twitched his whiskers but said nothing. Instead he rose to his paws and licked her between the ears. "We'll see, then." With that he padded back through the bushes.

Fern sighed. She loved him. She really did. But she didn't know what she would do if there was another tom in the Clans she felt about the same way as Dusk. Licking down her chest fur, she got to her paws and continued stalking through the undergrowth.


	4. The Dream

_It was sunhigh the next day by the time the group got to the edge of the forest._ Willow had cracked pads, and was leaning against Dusk as they trekked through the last stretch of trees. Fern itched to move faster, but Willow's limp meant they had to slow their pace. According to the rogue's stories, the Clans lived across a stretch of dry land, then over hills and to a forest. Trotting faster, Fern reached the barren landscape. Narrowing her eyes against the dry breeze, Fern looked back to see even Willow forcing herself into a trot.

"Great StarClan," breathed Night as he stared out. "Willow is going to have troubles."

The gray she-cat gave no sign of hearing, so Fern flicked her tail and they began to pad over the dry grass. The wind pulled their fur back, and they had to pause multiple times when Willow's pads began to bleed. Soon they had to stop beneath a thorn tree to let her rest. Fern settled down and began grooming the grit from her fur. The others did the same, and soon the four fell into an uneasy sleep.

The ground seemed to quiver beneath Fern as she slept. Soon she felt like she was sinking beneath the ripples of a river. Blinking her eyes open, she leaped to her paws and looked down. The breath caught in her throat at the sight. Instead of on the solid ground under the thorn tree, the ground was clear and rippling. She was standing on water! Fern didn't dare move a whisker in case she fell. Flinching her head up, she looked for her friends, but they were gone. The dry landscape had vanished as well. What she saw was a pebbly shore, and great trees lush with greenleaf growing down to the water's edge. The further she looked, she noticed pine trees begin to mingle with the oaks and maples. Then it was a solid prickly green forest.

Whipping her head the other way she saw the trees continue until it stopped at a stream. From there heather grew and rabbit burrows dotted the ground. Looking further, Fern saw a tiny speck that looked like a twoleg nest and even further on was a tiny island. Screwing up her eyes against the light reflecting from the water she saw reed grow tall and the lakeshore lap against small low islands. Then it hit her. _The Clan territories!_

Fern looked down at her paws again and saw that she wasn't in fact standing on the water but _in_ it. She was in the shallows and the gray pebbles made the water seem to deepen to nothingness. Tilting her head she glanced up again to see four cats slipping down the shore towards the pine trees. Curious, she stepped from the water and trotted into the undergrowth where she could catch up unnoticed. There was a tom with a flame-colored pelt and numerous battle scars, and beside him trotted a muscular dark tabby. A cloud-white tom matched him stride for stride while a sleek gray tabby loped after them.

Once she was within earshot, she crept forward and pricked her ears to their conversation.

"They have been stretching the boundary well into our territory, Firestar," the dark tabby growled. "We know Blackstar won't settle this peacefully." _Firestar and Blackstar!_ Fern's eyes stretched wide. _Those must be the Clan leaders!_

The white tom flicked a glance at the tabby. "Brambleclaw is right, Firestar. ShadowClan are dark-hearted through and through. Except for Tawnypelt." He hastily added at a sharp look from the tabby, Brambleclaw.

Firestar flicked his tail. "Those are just nursery tales. ShadowClan just like to extend their territory for more prey."

The gray tabby spoke up from beside the white tom as he stepped back. "I know you want to keep peace, but it won't happen. We have to do this quickly." More gruffly he added, "I can tell we'll have to fight for this piece of land, though."

The Clan leader halted and his warriors stopped beside him. "Leafpool had a sign from StarClan saying there would be no deaths but new arrivals. This could be the sign we've been waiting for!"

Brambleclaw murmured his agreement. With his patrol silent, Firestar took up the pace again towards the Clan boundary. Confused, Fern shot forward until she was just behind the gray tabby. She was sure she was safe, since it was clearly only a dream right? Taking a deep breath, she reached out with a paw and tapped the tabby. The warriors paused for a moment and glanced around with a puzzled look on his face before trotting after his companions. But just as Fern was taking a step towards them, her vision blurred and she felt like she was falling. Fighting down the sudden panic that rose in her throat like bile, she calmed herself. _It's only a dream. It's only a dream._

"What's only a dream, Fern?"

The she-cat opened her eyes to see Night peering at her curiously. "You've been muttering in your sleep."

Completely embarrassed she muttered something and licked down her ruffled fur. Willow was stretching and yawned as she got to her paws while Dusk helped her up. Suddenly she remembered her hunger and groaned inwardly. Surely there was no prey here?

Then she looked under the thorn tree and noticed four rabbits piled on one another. "I went out early," Night explained and picked up a rabbit. Fern purred her gratitude and picked her own rabbit. Tearing into it hungrily she tried to call back the images she saw in her dream. They came to her fresh and untainted. Soon her eyes were glazed as she ate deep in thought.

Dusk must have noticed for he he padded up to her and sat down with his own rabbit. "What's troubling you?" he murmured. Fern looked up and rapidly told him about her dream and the warrior's conversation.

Dusk nodded. "That's probably where we're going. As long as we recognize someone we'll be okay."

The rest of the day, Fern kept telling herself that. As long as she knew a cat, they would greet her with friendship. Or would they think of her as odd? Fern shook off the feeling of nervousness and together the four cats trekked across the barren landscape until the rolling hills could be seen.


	5. The Hills

_The grass beneath Fern's paws was delightfully soft._ Willow's pads were still cracked, but the bleeding had all but entirely stopped and she could lay more weight on the paw. Dusk and Night raced forward, nudging each other like kits until they rolled in the grass. Fern purred and leaped after them, leaving Willow to limp rapidly behind.

"Got you!" Dusk yowled triumphantly as he pinned Night down. The black tom refused to give up however, and pummeled his hindpaws into the gray tabby's belly. Dusk flew a foxlength away and landed dazed.

Fern purred in amusement and propelled herself at Night. "Revenge!" she growled good-naturedly and smacked the tom's ear with her sheathed paw. Night ducked and head butted Fern into some heather. He pranced away with his tail held high as his head.

"Not so fast," muttered Fern and burst from the heather. She skimmed across the grass like a rabbit and bowled the black cat down. His white paws flailed in the air for a moment before Fern managed to pin him. "Ha! Take that, rogue!"

Night went limp, and as Fern released the pressure and shot up onto her back. She let out a surprised yowl and began dashing around. Dusk's amused face flashed past as he got from the brush, but Fern kept running. Picking up speed she didn't realize the grass was growing sparser until it entirely vanished.

"Woah, slow down, Fern," Night meowed in her ear. The she-cat skidded to a stop, wincing as a stone dug into her pad.

Night slipped off her back and padded forward. Fern hung back and trotted over the hill to see down where Dusk and Willow were. The two gray cats were walking steadily, and when Fern beckoned with her tail they picked up speed excitedly. Fern turned and ran down the slope to the rocky hill. It was steep, but over the ridge she could just see a few treetops.

Night was staring at the slope determinedly and began padding up. Dusk was beside Fern by now, and Willow was just coming up on her other side. The black tom kept walking however, and small stones clattered down to his friends.

"Careful!" Willow called as Night's hindpaw slipped a mouselength. The tom quickly pulled himself up until he was on the ridge. His fur was on end though.

Fern's neck fur rose. What was making Night bristle like that? But when the black tom turned, his face was bright and his eyes wide in disbelief.

"We're here!"


End file.
